In many ways this is probably the strangest trip we ever took. On paper, it ticked all the boxes for a perfect trip. I have always enjoyed southern California and have some very dear friends there. I also have a decidedly soft spot for Disneyland. We also have been to two of out three of the ports we are going to visit multiple times before and really like them. However, there have been a few occasions where I asked myself if I really can be bothered with it all.
To understand the full comedy of errors, we need to go back to spring 2022. My then boss mentioned that there was some crazy good pricing on grand suites on a 7-night Mexican Riviera cruise on Navigator of the Seas. He told me it would be no issue to take leave around that time if I was interested. I checked with Graham, and he was up for it. The bonus was that this cruise would arrive back in Los Angeles on 30th October, would get me at Disneyland in time for Halloween. I reached out to my friends in California, and we started to make preliminary plans. About a month later, Royal Caribbean sent out an email advising that this was a pricing error, and we could either go ahead with the new pricing and get a very generous on-board credit or we could have a full refund. I contacted their customer service department by email to see if it would be possible to downgrade the cabin. The grand suite was now about 5 times the original price and there was no way we were going to pay this. I did not get a reply and in the meantime our Alaska cruises were looming and the cut off for making a decision was while we were away. In the end, I bit the bullet and called. Phone based customer service for Royal Caribbean is outsourced to Guatemala and although their customer service agents are always very friendly, they are not always doing great with more complex queries. However, after being put on hold a couple of times, I was assured that I could downgrade to a balcony and would get the on-board credit. This was still more expensive than what I would normally have paid for a Mexican Riviera cruise, but the $600 on board credit made this a good deal as this would cover excursions and a photo package. A slight irritation was that my employer kept being chased about an additional deposit. The cruise was originally purchased on a reduced deposit offer and although I was advised when I downgraded the cabin that the deposit was paid in full and were also advised the same on a couple of subsequent phone calls, we were still chased for an additional deposit. In the end, I got fed up with it and just paid it as sooner or later it needed to be paid anyway.
The first complication came when I decided to resign and go back to my previous employer. This went down like a lead balloon at my old job. I did ask what we would do regarding this cruise. I had booked this and another cruise through work. The final payment date for the February cruise was not far off and I paid this before I left. My then boss was quite happy for me to pay off the Mexican Riviera cruise when the final payment date arrived. With hindsight, I should have insisted that this was released back to Royal Caribbean.
All was well until the evening before we were flying out to Australia for our Silver Wedding cruise. We were staying at one of the airport hotels when I decided to check my emails. I found an email from Royal Caribbean and initially I thought it was an update for the cruise we were about to go on. However, I soon realised that it was a notification that our Mexican Riviera cruise had been cancelled as the ship had been chartered out. I am not sure why I even got the email as this was still technically a travel agent’s booking and all communications should have gone to the agent and not to me. I was however very grateful that this mistake was made. They offered three alternative dates with price protection and a little on-board credit by way of saying sorry or a full refund. At this point it had dawned on me that if this had been an option, taking the refund would have been the smartest option. However, I had paid the deposit with reward cards issued by a couple of different cruise lines. As I was no longer a travel agent, I no longer had access to those accounts, and I most certainly did not want to throw £300 away. One of the dates was over my birthday and I asked Graham what he thought. He was happy to run with whatever I decided to do. I checked if leave was available over the new dates and fortunately it was. I got the leave rebooked and forwarded the email to my former employer stating the date we had chosen. The deadline for making a decision was very tight and was while I was still on a ship. I heard nothing at all for almost the duration of my trip. With the deadline nearly upon us, I panicked and contacted Royal Caribbean via chat. They advised me that somebody was already working on it. Sure enough, soon afterwards the correct date showed up on the Royal Caribbean app. About 24 hours later I got an email from my former employer that everything had been rebooked. I noticed that the original on-board credit had disappeared, and I queried this, but never got a reply. I will give them the benefit of the doubt that this was simply overlooked.
I was somewhat disappointed that I would now be missing Halloween at Disneyland, but I was hoping that the holiday season would start while I am out there. Unfortunately, it did not actually start until the day we got on the ship. However, as so much new stuff was added since I was last there, this kept me busy.
I was just not feeling inspired and did very little planning. When our window for DVC bookings opened, I tried to book a studio at the Villas at the Grand Californian, but only got waitlisted. I looked at good neighbour hotels, but even the most basic of motels near Disneyland was crazy expensive. At some stage one of my Facebook friends posted that the Villas at the Disneyland Hotel were due to open at the end of September. I am so out of touch with Disney in the USA that I had not even realised that Disneyland was due to get a second DVC resort. Cash bookings became available in spring, but there was no indication if bookings on points would even be an option this year. Again, I got a heads up from somebody in the know the day before points bookings were due to open. I tried booking online all day, but the website kept crashing. When I got home, I rang DVC Member Services and not only was he hold time not too bad, but I managed to snag a studio at the Villas at the Disneyland Hotel for all six nights.
In June, I decided it was high time to do something about our flights. I got a decent price on BA flights via Heathrow. I mentioned this to a colleague who has family in LA, and it turned out that she was due to fly to LA two days before me. That got some excitement going again. It still felt like it was far away.
When the roster was published, I realised that I had been given two days off immediately before my holiday. Unfortunately, the tickets we had purchased are non-changeable. There had been a whole spade of schedule changes before this, but it had gone rather quiet. In the end, I was grateful that I was not able to change our departure date. A storm hit the south of England on what would have been our new departure date, and a lot of flights were cancelled. The flights we would have been on did operate, but that is stress I simply do not need at the beginning of the holiday.
The breakthrough came with less than one month to go. I suddenly realised that this is really happening. I finally got my Disneyland tickets, downloaded the app, and made reservations. I also started to make plans with friends. Unfortunately, the plans with one friend fell apart, but instead I was getting some bonus park time with another friend. I also realised just how bitter I was about this whole thing with the on-board credit. I contacted the executive office for Royal Caribbean and was told that I was not talking to the right people. It was not a “no”, it was just a “somebody else needs to help you”. I was even more determined to get this sorted when I had an email reminding me that I had an on-board credit to spend. Initially I was delighted and figured somebody had sprinkled some pixie dust. However, even though the booking reference was right, the day was that of the cruise that was cancelled back in February. I was not going to let this go. I am also nothing if not resourceful. In the end it was all sorted out and I got the on-board credit reinstated. This gave me the boost I needed. I used the on-board credit to splurge on one of my happy places, Las Caletas, for my birthday and also got the photo package. We still had some on board credit left, too, which we planned to either use for some more excursions on board or for some other goodies.
With this boost, I had a mad 24 hours. We planned what to do for my one free day. I also finally got the airport hotel sorted and finished my magnets that I needed to replace. A week before we went, I was able to book my seats for the outbound flight and I seem to have spent the last week before going on this trip with doing one check in or other almost every day. Even with all this activity, I still was not really feeling this.
That changed on my official first date of the holiday. I was awake way to early and was playing with the internet. I decided to check out the website for Shepherd’s Grove. Shepherd’s Grove is what used to the old Crystal Cathedral ministry. I have felt a strong bond with this ministry since 2006 and this culminated in us renewing our wedding vows in the wedding chapel in the Tower of Hope at Crystal Cathedral only a matter of months before Crystal Cathedral was sold. This cemented that bond. Throughout the years, I have always kept up with what was happening with the ministry. Back in summer 2018, somebody on one of my Disney groups posted a video from a children’s choir from Orange County before How Far I’ll Go from Moana on America Got Talent. I was instantly sold. The choir is absolutely amazing.
I had no idea about their background though. It was only weeks later that I realised that Voices of Hope Children’s Choir is actually part of the Shepherd’s Grove ministry. I always dreamed that I would get to see them perform life at some stage. I knew that the possibility of that ever happening was slim. They only sing in church a few times each year. Well, when I checked the church calendar, which I had not even realised existed until that day, I noticed that Voices of Hope Children’s Choir was singing in church on the Sunday I was in California. The church is now in Irvine, which is a little further from Disneyland, but where there is a will there is a way. I took this as a sign that this trip is under a more auspicious star than I thought.
Is this trip going to be the disaster I expected it to be for most of the last year or is the trip going to be maybe not perfect, but perfect for us? You are going to have to read along to find out.
Dolphingirl’s Travels 
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